D.C. LGBT Groups Launching Anti-Violence Collaborative

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Several local LGBT organizations and advocates announced Monday via Facebook their plans to launch the DC Anti-Violence Collaborative (DCAVC), a new group dedicated to ending cycles of violence and oppression directed against members of the LGBTQ community and its heterosexual allies.

The group, intended to be another resource in addition to existing anti-violence, public safety and LGBT service organizations, will meet monthly and has plans to organize two town hall-style meetings this fall. It will also be launching a new online tool to report and map incidents of anti-LGBTQH violence.

”The DC Anti-Violence Collaborative will allow us to start coordinating vital services for survivors of violence in our communities,” said Ruby Corado, the founder and executive director of the LGBT service organization Casa Ruby. ”There is a tremendous need, and by working together across organizations, we will be better able to address that need.”

”DCAVC will help us create an inclusive advocacy agenda in a safe space for all intersections of the LGBTQH communities,” Hassan Naveed, co-chair of Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV), said in a statement. ”It’s time for us tighten coordination in our advocacy efforts and make sure we are providing representation for everyone.”

The group’s official launch will take place on Aug. 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Columbia Heights Plaza, near the intersection of 14th Street, Kenyon Street and Park Road NW. Local advocates and survivors of violence will be among those speaking at the launch rally.

”The central idea behind the DC Anti-Violence Collaborative is that organizations and activists can come together in a place to address, collectively, issues of police violence, hate violence, sexual violence, and partner violence through advocacy, education, grassroots organizing, and providing services,” said Jason Terry, an organizer with the DC Trans Coalition. ”I see this as really long-term work that over time can build collective power and collective safety.”

John Riley is the local news reporter for Metro Weekly. He can be reached at jriley@metroweekly.com